Initiator Bart Peeters came to us with an idea he carried around for years while working in the humanitarian aid sector.“Displaced people around the world are suffering. They need adequate healthcare and education but lack a safe place to receive these basic commodities. They fight to survive in mere tents. Would you work with me to create a completely new type of shelter that brings comfort and safety to these people in need?”
That was the beginning of the maggie program. Months of conceptual analysis, exploring existing constructions and gathering requirements followed. We tested multiple ideas in maquettes and real size set-ups. A first complete, steel maggie was built in cooperation with our partners on the site of a KULeuven research centre. Experts were invited, performance tests analysed and the building process was critically reviewed. This lead to an upgrade of the prototype to an aluminium version with improved building components. The concept was ready for a first client.

At that time, Syrian refugees were flowing towards Europe and the refugee-children centrum in Steenokkerzeel felt an urgent need for an extra space. The maggie was the ideal solution. Not a fixed, permanent construction, but still energy-efficient and comfortable. Today, this pioneer maggie is still performing excellent.

At the moment we are forming promising partnerships with organisations that are convinced that the maggie can make a real difference. We see a bright future for maggie.
Please find more information about our ongoing projects on the maggie program website.

Displaced people stay on average 11,8 years in a camp.
Some camps exist for 2-3 generations.Only temporary structures are allowed. Tents don't suffice for long term purposes.The reason why new type of shelter was needed.The maggie shelter offers a solution.The modular maggie shelter is adaptable for different situations and conditions.Her specific form allows for numerous configurations.Longer, shorter...
A small shelter for a family or an endless storage hall.Possible purpose: medical wards & heath posts.Possible purpose: training & community centers.Possible purpose: schools.Possible purpose: safe operational centres.Possible purpose: temporary dormitories.Possible purpose: temperature controlled warehouses.But the maggie can serve a wider range of purposes, for example: temporary sheltering on a large construction site. How did we get to the maggie design?
The process first took off with some wild ideas.The idea of stacking insulated sausages felt like a good starting point.So we took our concept to a real size test, which brought us new insights.Meanwhile, we did our research about sheltering and finally set ourselves 30 criteria to which our future maggie had to comply.More ideas, more testing followed.In July 2015 we built our first official prototype, to show ourselves and experts in the field what she was worth.That's her! Isn't she beautiful? :-)Half a year later, a finetuned, aluminium maggie was built for our first client. The refugee-children centre in Steenokkerzeel.Not a permanent construction, but still energy-efficient, versatile and comfortable.She was formally inaugurated by the Belgian Minister of Asylum and Migration.One of our current projects: a cooperation with Digitruck.
Together we aim to bring quality education to children growing up in refugee camps.Only 1,5 years after the maggie prototype was born, we were granted the prestigious Henry van de Velde Award!
A great incentive to keep working on a bright future for maggie.